This invention relates to toilet compartments and in particular to a new and improved shoe for a toilet compartment stile.
A conventional toilet compartment 11 with stiles 12, 13, door 14 and side panel 15 is shown in FIG. 1. The stiles 12, 13 are fastened to the floor in a conventional manner as shown in FIG. 2. The side panel 15 is connected between the stile 12 and the back wall. 17 with conventional mounting brackets. The stile 13 is similarly fastened to the side wall 18. The door 14 is hinged to the stile 13 in the conventional manner.
FIG. 2 illustrates the conventional mounting of a stile on the floor of the toilet compartment. A bracket 20 is attached to the bottom of the stile 13 by bolts 21 and nuts 22 positioned in openings 23 at the lower end of the stile. Bolts 24 are set in the floor 16 and are positioned in slots in the bracket 20. Conventional nuts With washers are positioned on the bolts 24 above and below the bracket 20 for clamping the bracket and the stile in place on the floor, as shown in FIG. 3. After the stile is clamped to the floor, a shoe 25 is slid downward over the stile to rest on the floor and enclose the lower end of the stile, the mounting bolts 21 and 24, and associated components.
The conventional shoe is made of one piece or of two pieces welded together, with a specific length and a specific width for a specific size of stile. Typically, stiles come in a wide range of lengths, typically ranging from two inches to twenty-four inches. Also stiles usually come in two widths or thicknesses, typically three-quarter inch and on inch. This requires manufacture and stocking of a substantial number of different sizes of shoes. Also, it is sometimes necessary to place the shoe in position after the stile has been attached to the wall or the side panel, at which time the shoe can no longer be slid downward over the stile.
Several approaches have been considered in overcoming these disadvantages of the one piece stile construction. In one design, the shoe has been folded from a single piece of metal with overlapping ends at one end so that the shoe can be opened for laterally sliding onto the stile, with the overlapping ends then joined by a screw which also runs into the stile to hold the shoe in position. This design still requires a different shoe for each length and for each stile thickness.
Another approach has been to produce a shoe in four pieces, with the end pieces being channels and the side pieces being flat. Channels can be provided for two thicknesses of the stile, and sides can be provided in various widths. However, this construction requires ordering the appropriate parts for each installation and assembly of the components, usually on the site.
Another approach is a two piece construction with a three sided unit having flanges for attaching a fourth side after the three sided unit has been positioned around the stile. Here again a different three sided unit must be provided for each stile thickness and stile width.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved shoe for a stile, which shoe can be installed by positioning around the stile with a lateral movement, and which shoe can be utilized with stiles of two different thicknesses. A further object of the invention is to provide such a shoe which can be utilized with free standing stiles and also with stiles mounted against a wall. With the new and novel shoe construction of the invention, the number of shoe widths which must be stocked is reduced by half.
Other objects, advantages, features and results will more fully appear in the course of the following description.